Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
Ḥayye Yehudah (The Life of Judah)
At the beginning of the month of Tammuz 5349 [began June 15, 1589], in order not to remain idle, I began to give lessons in Torah to the son of Manasseh Levi of blessed memory and to Joseph the son of…
Sefer ha-ḥezyonot (The Book of Visions): On the Afterlife
That year my wife, Hannah, became extremely ill and one Sabbath she was in a coma and close to death. At night, at the conclusion of the Sabbath, we approached her to witness the departure of the…
Testament (Istanbul)
[Hebrew:] We the undersigned, when the honorable old lady, Sra. Blanca, widow of R. Daniel Yeshurun (may his…
Diario di un viaggio in Terra Santa (Diary of a Journey to the Holy Land): On the Jews of London
“There are two synagogues of the German Jews, and one of the Portuguese, twenty-four cubits broad and forty-two long. Each one has its own management; thus the income of one is not mixed with that of…
Takkanot (Regulations)
The Holy One, blessed be He, gave understanding, wisdom, knowledge, fear of sin, and generosity of soul to the eminent philanthropist, so that he should earn a good name and receive glory, his honor R…
Letter to Levi Ibn Ḥabib and the Rabbis of Jerusalem
We want to make ourselves strong for our people and the cities of our God, and to raise the banner of Torah which had been thrown to the ground and trodden down. Behold, this people of God is a…
Regulamentos (Regulations)
Insofar as the true remedy for assuaging the Lord’s wrath is to turn from evil and do good, and since the best of all benevolent actions is to give alms, whereby, according to sacred scripture, one…
Takkanot (Regulations)
We, the young ones of the flock, the holy flock here in Izmir, declare: whereas several…
Livro de ascamot (Book of Regulations): On Non-Jews in Synagogue
No one may accommodate non-Jews [in the synagogue] without the permission of the mahamad [board of governors].
In the past, it was promulgated that no person may get up from his place to go to greet…
Acordos (Regulations): On Synagogue Behavior
In the name of the blessed God.
By virtue of the Regulation made and published on the 18th of Sivan, Yr: 5471 [1711], holding those [boys] of the age of 16 years subject to the orders of the…
Bayit ḥadash (New House): On Bowing during Prayer
“He goes back four cubits etc.”
This implies that he must move backwards, but not forwards or to the sides. [ . . . ] It seems that this action was instituted by the sages only for an individual…
Letter to Her Daughter
If we should lack nothing else than veils, it would be all right.
May peace and healthy days be your lot always; to you, my much beloved daughter, may you live long, you who are pious and virtuous…